City Lights
by Brett Messerschmidt
Summary: Aurora Rittenhouse is a gorgeous seventeen year old living in a New York penthouse. Her new neighbor mysterious, hot neighbor Graydon seems to like her. But why is it to her friend Fray's dismay?
1. Once Upon A Time

**City Lights**

**once upon a time**

Aurora Rittenhouse watched the gold doors to the elevator in her penthouse close, relieved that the last of the guests had left. She saw her reflection on the doors; her blonde hair piled high in a neat bun, her royal blue Alice + Olivia shift dress reaching mid thigh on her mile long legs that were in black Christian Loubutin pumps. She turned around and faced her normally neat apartment that was now a nightmare, filled with wine and martini glasses, plates and various accessories mistakenly left behind by guests.

The reason the penthouse had been filled with so many people, about fifty all of which were filthy rich, and now was in shambles was her mother, Genevieve, had offered to throw Aurora's obnoxious cousin Corinne an engagement party, even though the wedding was a week away. Corinne was Genevieve's late sister's twenty one year old socialite daughter, who had recently gotten engaged to a Greek oil heir, Demetrius, who Aurora thought she was only getting married to so she could be even more like her idol Paris Hilton, and more than likely the marriage wouldn't even last.

The reason Genevieve was planning the wedding was because Corinne's parents both passed away when she was ten and ever since had been taken under Genevieve's wing, but Aurora never liked her. So Aurora had been thrilled when Corinne moved out at the age of thirteen to go to boarding school; Genevieve sending her there convinced she was a prodigy and Aurora believed her mother favored Corinne. So two years after Corinne was shipped off her parents decided to travel around the world and since her brother, Paraas, had already gone off to Hollywood, her parents hired a live in nanny to watch Aurora, but only lasted a year since she convinced her parents to let her live alone.

"Thank god cousin IT is gone." Aurora declared to her brother Paraas. Paraas was twenty five and shared Aurora's hatred towards Corinne. He was eight years older than Aurora and a successful actor, having recently starred in a drama opposite Scarlett Johansson. All the girls at the party gawked at Paraas and were in awe over him being there, they all said to Corinne "I can't believe he's your cousin, you're so lucky…" and Corinne's response would be "Oh yeah, he's the best, we're super close." She claims they were inseparable when they were younger and that he always looked out for her, which was far from the truth.

The reason neither Paraas nor Aurora liked Corinne was because their mother had always favored her. She was the number one 'child', Paraas was number two, since he's famous, and Aurora would always be number three, the only way she could ever move up would be to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Aurora and Paraas figured their mother favored Corinne was since her parents died, so she got sympathy. The worst of it was she got an inheritance too. Aurora wasn't a greedy person at all when it comes to money, but she was shocked that Corinne got an inheritance on her eighteenth birthday that was exactly the same as what her brother got, $75,000. The party had been even more over the top than her sweet sixteen, which was pretty pathetic because you would think she would have grown up by then, the party was complete with spiked punch, totally '90s prom and totally gaudy, and Kanye West singing, she even tried to the people from My Super Sweet Sixteen to do an episode on it, but like Aurora told her, the show was beyond over.

"I know, did you hear her saying how we're like her siblings. Thank God we only have to see her one more time at the wedding, then she'll be on the other side of the globe, far far away." Paraas told his sister, while she gathered up any photos containing Corinne, which she put out before the party, and tossed them in drawer in the coffee table some of them shattering, but still hopefully never to be brought out again. All of the pictures though, were terrible shots of Corinne, who in Aurora's opinion looked like trailer trash Barbie. From her platinum blonde hair with brown roots, caked on foundation and pink lipstick, somehow she managed to look trashier than even Jessica Simpson, and used the world y'all, a la Britney Spears circa her bipolar days, Corinne thought the saying was cuter than a Hermes Birkin bag; Aurora got a migraine just from hearing the word.

"For you, I have to go to the rehearsal dinner. The worst part is that she picked me to be her maid of honor, me! How clueless can she be…? I mean have I really hidden my hatred that well." Aurora said, disgusted with her so-called sister. She had been shocked when Corinne asked her to be maid of honor, and her mother was delighted. So she had gone with Corinne and her fiancée to all of the cake tastings, meetings with the party planner and picking out of dresses, and hated every day of it. Now in a few days she would have to give two speeches, one at the rehearsal dinner, and the other at the actual wedding.

"Ooh look! Gifts Corinne left behind. One, two, three, four… fourteen. God she is so dumb, how does she manage to leave behind fourteen gifts, half of them are bigger than her? Let's open them." Aurora said excitedly, as her hazel eyes wildly searched the presents. She divided them into two piles of seven, one for her the other for Paraas.

"Don't you think she'll notice some of her presents are missing?" Paraas asked, opening up a large square box.

"No way. Look what I have, a little blue box… Tiffany's!" Aurora untied the ribbon on the robin's egg blue box and opened it to reveal a bangle of the exact same blue. At the same time Paraas opened his to reveal a wine chiller. The both of them tore through the rest of the gifts, like they were orphans receiving Christmas presents, relishing in taking what wasn't theirs. Aurora ended up with the bangle, matching ring, two platinum and diamond Montblanc pens, two Montblanc journals, cashmere throw, a Cartier watch, and a Bergdorf Goodman gift card. Paraas ended up with just as good of presents and probably equally expensive.

There were now boxes and wrapping paper everywhere in the before Pottery Barn-esque apartment. The penthouse, which Aurora had decorated herself, even though her parents offered to hire a personal decorator, looked like it was from the Elizabethan era, which surprisingly enough her mother approved of. The penthouse was filled with vintage furniture, brocade printed pieces and crystal lamps, all costing a small fortune. Across the walls were black and white photographs of old movie stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Catherine Deneuve, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck and others, all of which were autographed.

"Anyways Glenda the good witch will clean the mess the wicked witch of the west left in the morning. I'm going to sleep; I'm exhausted from all the fake smiling. 'Night Perry, see you in the morning."Aurora said climbing the spiral staircase leading to the second story. She always added the good witch to the maid, Glenda's name, and of course Corinne was the wicked on. When she got to the top, and got out of her imagination of seeing Corrine's size 11 tacky gold shoes under a mansion, she went into the library, which was, by itself, was three thousand square feet. The shelves were filled with Aurora's favorite books, including Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult books, along with classics like the Great Gatsby. Also in the library were books of poetry, from E.E. Cummings to Oscar Wilde. She glanced at the clock, squinting her hazel eyes to read twelve o' five. After Aurora grabbed the newest Sophie Kinsella book, which hadn't been released yet but got it through her parents' connections and she went into her bedroom.


	2. Too Bad She's Bad

too bad she's bad

Lexi Kotur stomped her skinny, tall, tan body down the four flights of stairs in her Upper East Side mansion. She quickly spiraled down to the bottom, making plenty of noise as she attempted to wake up anyone asleep. She arrived at the bottom and jumped off the last four steps in her knee high black Loeffler Randall boots, hoping she made enough noise to wake her dreadful stepmother up.

"Aurora! Hey, what a surprise, didn't expect to see you here, especially so early." Lexi shouted, louder than necessary since Aurora was only three feet away. Lexi tugged her emerald green dress down over her long, lean legs, and tied her brown waist length hair up. Her brown eyes didn't have any curiosity in them as to why Aurora would drop by, unannounced on a Saturday morning at ten o'clock. They had been best friends since they were ten and always let themselves into one another's houses. They even had keys.

"Stepmonster home?" Aurora asked with a smirk, knowing the answer and Lexi's hatred towards her stepmother, Leticia. Lexi's dad, Raymond, a writer, worked 18 hour days so Lexi hardly saw him and saw even more of his wife who was just a housewife, with too much plastic surgery. Lexi's mother, Alexandra, had left when she was three so she basically didn't know her when she was little, and Raymond had married Leticia four years later. So you might think Leticia would have been a motherly figure towards Lexi, and she did make an effort, but Lexi really could care less about her, in her mind she would always be the gold digging intruder.

Even though Lexi didn't see her mother through her childhood, when she was thirteen her mother wrote her a letter, in it was her address and phone number and she said to visit or call whenever she wanted. So Lexi built a strong relationship with her mother and learned her mother was an aspiring fashion designer. Two years later her mother's line debuted, Kotur Couture, and was a hit. An original Kotur gown can be bought at Bendel's, Barney's, Bergdorf's, or Saks for above $2,000. So basically Lexi got a mom, and get's free dresses.

"Yes, of course. So the party went well last night." Lexi said starting up the stairs, Aurora following. They went up to the fourth floor, which was Lexi's massive room that was the whole floor. Lexi went into her closet and came out with a long blue belted Ralph Lauren trench coat over her dress and gray tights. She still looked pretty with just mascara and peach blush on her tan skin.

"You should've stayed afterwards. We found a whole bunch of presents Corinne forgot. Look" Aurora thrusted her wrist forward to show Lexi her new platinum Cartier watch with diamonds. She was wearing dark wash Rich & Skinny jeans, a three quarter length sleeve pale pink TSE cardigan over a gray Alice + Olivia shirt, and black and white polka dot Michael Kors ballerinas. "Anyways, you're coming with me to pick up Corinne and get fitted for new bridesmaid dresses."

"What about the violet satin Vera Wang ones and your pink one?" Lexi asked as they got into the back of her family's chauffeured town car. She directed the driver, Rich, to the Ritz Carlton at Battery Park, where Corinne was staying. Aurora had got out of having Corinne as a guest by saying that Paraas was already staying in the one of the guest rooms and that there had been a flood in the other and the room has to stay empty for another two months, which wasn't totally a lie; there was a flood, it had been soaked, but it was fine now, but Corinne didn't need to know.

"Are you kidding? Of course we aren't wearing those. I told Corinne that your grandma who died a few weeks ago owned a dress exactly like that, it was tragic, you two were inseparable, don't forget that. Anyways Corinne bought it, so convince her more. So these are the dresses were going to get." Aurora pulled out two photos from her black Lanvin bag. One was of Aurora in a dark plum chiffon floor length dress with a v-neck. The other was Aurora in a pale pink strapless mermaid gown. "You and the other bridesmaids are wearing the purple, and I'm wearing the pink. Of course only if you like it."

"Yeah, it's beautiful. So after were done with this and drop Corinne off should we go shopping for dresses for the rehearsal dinner?" Lexi said as they pulled up to the hotel, called Corinne, and waited for her to come out.

"Sure. Here comes Bridezilla. Wearing original Jessica Simpson designs." Aurora commented sarcastically, until Corinne got in. she was wearing a black dress, no tights in sixty degree weather, and flip flops. God was she delusional, its freezing.

"Lexi, I'm so sorry about the other dress. I didn't know the color purple would bring back bad memories. It's amazing you can remember such details and specific, the most vivid memory I have is moving in with the Rittenhouse's and feeling so welcome, the happiest day of my life." Corinne reminisced. Aurora rolled her eyes when Corinne wasn't looking, she hated how she always referred to them as the Rittenhouse's, like they were owners of a bed and breakfast, and calling it the happiest day of her life, it was like she was describing the first time she went to Disneyland.

"I have a photographic memory; I can still see my grandmother in that dress. Her long brown hair cascading down her shoulders, and a smile on her face. I couldn't ever wear a dress so similar, it brings tears to my eyes." Lexi lied, dramatically, she even managed to get fake tears welled up in her brown eyes. Corinne put a hand on Lexi's shoulder while Aurora looked on. Both of Lexi's grandmothers had died years ago and Lexi had only been close to one of them, but not so close that it would stop her from wearing some fake dress.

Once they were fitted in their dresses Lexi and Aurora dropped Corinne off and went to the Lexi mother's showroom, Couture by Kotur and tried on hundreds of dresses. They knew Alexandra wouldn't be there since it was Paris fashion week and she was over there, but the assistants all knew them and they knew to give help them with whatever they needed and that they wouldn't have to pay for any of it. Aurora ended up with a cobalt blue floor length empire waist gown and Lexi with a gray strapless floor length gown. They then went to Bergdorf's to get shoes. Aurora bought a pair of gold strappy Jimmy Choos, and Lexi got black Christian Loubutin sandals that brought her up to a height of about 5'4. They then went to the Butterfly Studio to get their hair done for the rehearsal dinner that night.

Aurora had her hair put in a loose updo, with her long chin length bangs parted down the middle and the rest pulled back in a loose bun. Her make-up was black liquid eyeliner, pink blush and red lipstick. Lexi's hair was in a ponytail with her bangs swept off to the side. Lexi had smoky eyes, lip gloss and didn't need blush since she had such defined cheekbones, probably from being Cherokee.


	3. Wait Until Dark

wait until dark

Fray Peppard and Marcus Ellingson arrived at the step of Lexi's door at six thirty, a half hour late just as Lexi had instructed them. Marcus pounded on the door, forgoing manners. Both of them looked gorgeous in tuxedos. Fray's dark blonde hair shined under the porch light, he looked handsome, in a Jude Law/Leonardo DiCaprio way. As for Marcus his longish brown hair looked neat and polished for a change, and he looked more Ashton Kutcher at the Oscars with Demi than in 'Dude Where's My Car', for a change. Marcus was Lexi's date and Fray was Aurora's date to the rehearsal dinner. They weren't going to be in the wedding but Corinne told Aurora and Lexi to bring dates, so they invited both of them as friends. Corinne told them they needed to start dating to find the guy they were going to marry. They had all been best friends anyways, Fray and Marcus joining the group in eighth grade.

"Why did you knock? Come up." Lexi asked when she opened the door and saw Marcus and Fray standing at the door, laughing. She looked stunning in her gray dress that dragged along the floor as she went up the stairs and Fray and Marcus followed.

"You look nice Lex." Marcus complimented Lexi, as she held the rail to get up to the top, she was clearly tipsy. His eyes were practically glued to her, as they nearly always were, when she was drunk especially so she may hook up with him.

"Thanks." Lexi and all of them got into her room and Aurora was on the floor, taking a shot while Friends was on TV. She looked elegant in her royal blue dress, and turned and smiled at her friends. "Hey. Why are you guys so late?"

"Lexi told us to get here at six thirty. And what is up with the drinking without me?" Marcus sat down next to Aurora and picked up a shot glass and filled it with vodka. He waited till Rachel on the TV said 'Honey', and then took a sip.

"Well, then get up, we can't be any later, no need to add on any more embarrassment." Aurora got up and pulled Marcus up with her. She grabbed her tan Jimmy Choo clutch before heading out the door with her friends.

"Pour me a drink." Aurora ordered Marcus once inside Lexi father's sleek black limousine and held a glass out for him as he poured her Veuve Clicquot and Lexi told Rich, to take them to the Waldorf-Astoria where the dinner was being held. Once done talking to him Lexi shut the sound proof window.

"Shouldn't you slow down on the drinking? Isn't your family going to be here?" Fray asked Aurora.

"Yes and that is exactly _why _I'm drinking. My parents haven't ever seen me drunk or even drink at all they still think I'm the innocent thirteen-year old I used to be. If only they knew, I could guarantee I wouldn't be getting that inheritance." Aurora said as she refilled her glass, Lexi leaned over and whispered something in her Chanel stud clad ears. Aurora's jaw dropped in disbelief the way it always did when Lexi told her something wild she had done, even if it wasn't that crazy and typical.

"Really? But that's kind of sad." Aurora said, out loud, ignoring the whispering concept. "It's not his fault."

"What's with all the secrecy, you know you can tell me anything." Marcus moved and sat in between Lexi and Aurora, While Aurora scooted away towards Fray.

"Lexi made out with Dieter last night. He picked her up after the party." Aurora said in a hushed voice so Rich wouldn't hear, while she laughed. "_And_… That was his first kiss. The man-eater stole the poor innocent Italian boy's innocence. Isn't that illegal, like sexual harassment?"

"What the hell Aurora, why did you tell them?" Lexi said grabbing Aurora's drink, rolling down the window and dumping it out. She then grabbed the bottle of vodka out of Marcus's hands and clutched it to her chest. "No more alcohol for you. And he's not that young, he's sixteen, and I didn't know that at the time."

"Was it even legal for him to drive you?" Fray asked as Aurora and Marcus hysterically laughed. "God Lex, get a guy your own age."

"Marcus what are you laughing at? Do you not remember Roxy?" Lexi referenced Marcus's ex-girlfriend that was two years older than him at the time. He ended up dumping her after a month because Aurora, Fray and Lexi all made too many jokes, and she was way too needy for him.

"Whatever." Marcus responded. The limo pulled up in front of the Waldorf-Astoria and they all got out. Aurora hurried them in so they wouldn't be any later. They got in to the room and saw that no one was seated yet. They were all just walking around socializing. Aurora headed straight to the bar checking that her parents weren't looking. She got a spiked Coke, so her parents wouldn't know she was drinking. She looked over at Corinne and saw her in

"Nice of you to join us Aurora." Aurora's father, Randolph Rittenhouse, said sternly. Aurora smiled at her father to spite him, knowing that he was angry. "As Corinne was saying before she was interrupted she would like for you to make a speech."

Aurora got out her note cards and made her speech. She started out with how Corinne had first joined the family when Corinne was ten and Aurora was six. She lied and said her wish of having an older sister came true when Corinne came along. She said that Corinne was her confidante and best friend growing up and that she couldn't be happier for her. She wished her and Demetrius the best and that she didn't know two people that could be better for each other. The wedding party politely clapped, she smiled most polite smile and took her seat.

After another hour of speeches they were finally free to go.


End file.
